Time-to-pay arrangements top £4.3bn

The taxman's olive branch to struggling companies as they battle to survive the recession has topped £4.3bn in deferred tax payments.

As of 20 December last year, the Business Payment Support Service had approved more than 249,700 time to pay arrangements totalling £4.37bn, HMRevenue & Customs said.

£3.33bn has been repaid, leaving £1.04bn outstanding, an HMRC spokeswoman confirmed.

The BPSS has been available to all businesses, including partnerships since it started in November 2008.

About 60% of the arrangements are for periods of three months and below.

HMRC has recently made some internal changes in how it gathers information from people in large partnerships. This will make it easier for companies-including acountancy practices- to make joint applications for partners.

"HMRC have always adopted a sympathetic approach and TTP has always been an option to those experiencing temporary financial difficulty who contact HMRC with realistic proposals to pay off their tax debts over a relatively short period," the spokeswoman added.

"If individuals or businesses can’t pay what they owe the most important thing is to contact HMRC straight away – things never get better by being left or when HMRC notices to pay are ignored. The sooner people contact us the sooner we can begin working with them to find a solution."

Further reading:

Visit the BPSS website

Taxman holds firm after rise in time-to-pay arrangements

Half of all deferred business taxes are VAT